The films "Special," "Super", and "Kick-Ass" are examples of stories that have used the genre of Superheroes and Comic books as a means to catapult underlying non-fictional heroic themes such as virtuosity, conflict, and perseverance. "Superheroes" is a documentary film produced by Theodore James and Directed by Michael Barnett, which strikes many similarities to the goals and methods used by the main characters in the former mentioned movies.
In summary, the viewer is navigated through various interviews of people through-out cities such as New York who have taken it upon themselves to build alternate personas that they use to patrol areas affected by crime, arguably more so than the average. A majority of these self proclaimed "super-heroes" have constructed costumes and gear to attribute to the roles they play in crime fighting. Some of these non-fictional characters posses skills or assets that contribute to the crime-fighting efforts such as martial arts, weaponry, and tools designed for self defense (i.e. tasers and flash grenades).
It should be noted that a number of the "superheroes" and contributors to the film have and continue to volunteer in the areas of philanthropy, community outreach, civil activism, and crime prevention programs while still putting on the costume and identity. One such character, Zimmer Barnes, a licensed EMT, a journalist and activist, has founded crime prevention initiatives in Brooklyn, NYC such as the crime watch group 'New York Initiative."
Post the completion of the movie, and news of its release, it gained enough attention at Comic-Con 2012 to garner an award in the genre of Indie Films amongst other accolades in other competitions (i.e. Slamdance 2011).
Marketed as an HBO feature movie, "Superheroes" will premiere Monday, August 8th, 2011, at the 9PM slot. All images are copywrited and shared from www.superheroesthemovie.com